The present invention relates to a driving position adjusting device that adjusts a driving position of a driver seated in a driver's seat properly.
Conventionally, such a driving position adjusting device is known as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-44422, for example, which comprises a body-size detecting means for detecting a body size of a driver, an operational pedal, such as a brake pedal, to be pressed-operated by the driver, a movable floor portion that is provided near the operational pedal so as to be movable vertically, and a movable-floor-portion adjusting means for adjusting the height of the movable floor portion. Herein, the movable-floor-portion adjusting means is configured so that the adjusted height of the movable floor portion is changeable in accordance with the body size of the driver detected by the body-size detecting means in such a manner that the height of the movable floor portion becomes higher when the driver's body size is smaller. Further, the above-described driving position adjusting device further comprises a seat adjusting means that can move a seat cushion of the driver's seat in a vehicle longitudinal direction so as to adjust a vertical position and a longitudinal position of the seat cushion and also adjust an inclination angle of the seat cushion, so that the sitting position can be properly adjusted in accordance with the body size of the driver so as to provide appropriate positions of driver's eyes and its relative position to a steering wheel.
According to the above-described driving position adjusting device, the proper adjustment of the moving amount (height) of the movable floor portion may improve the operational function of the operational pedal. However, since the longitudinal position, vertical position and inclination angle of the seat cushion are respectively changed in accordance with the body size of the driver as described above, the sitting position of the driver would change too much. Thus, there is a problem in that it would be difficult to adjust the moving amount (height) of the movable floor portion properly, so that the position of the driver would be unstable or the operational function of the operational pedal would deteriorate.
That is, in a case where the drivers change, the new driver may try to move the driver's seat to a proper position for him/her by operating a seat-position adjusting mechanism so that the appropriate front view can be obtained by placing the height of his/her eye point on the appropriate eye line. Herein, however, since the vertical position and the inclination angle of the seat cushion change at the same time in accordance with the longitudinal movement of the driver's seat, the sitting position of the driver, more specifically, an upright angle of the driver's upper body relative to the horizontal line, a knee angle of the driver that is a bending angle between the driver's thigh portion and knee-lower portion and the like may change, and the operational function of the operational pedal may change accordingly. Accordingly, there is a problem in that even if the position of the movable floor portion was adjusted merely based on the size of the driver's foot according to the body size of the driver, both the sitting position of the driver and the operational function of the operational pedal could not be improved properly at the same time.
Meanwhile, another type of driving position adjusting device is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0109555 A1. This device can provide various useful advantages, but it might still have room for improvement in solving the above-described particular problem.